It is quite obvious that the grading system varies from one country to the other. It can be quite challenging for overseas students to understand the Australian grading system, especially when they are new here. We have seen overseas students getting upset about the “D” grade in the Universities and TAFEs, so we created this nifty guide about Australian grading system at various education levels.

Please note that each and every state, university or institute may have different percentages and grade names. You may need to check with your university or institute about the grading system they use.

Universities

First, let’s have a look at the university grading system. Although most universities will have similar grading scales which includes grades given below, some universities may have different percentage scales.

The grading scale given below is for the undergraduate (Bachelor Degree Programs) and postgraduate programs (Master Degrees Programs).

Grades

Grade Description

Grade Scale (%)

GPA

HD

High Distinction

80 - 100

7.00

D

Distinction

70 - 79

6.00 - 6.99

C

Credit

60 - 69

5.00 - 5.99

P

Pass

50 - 59

4.00 - 4.99

F

Fail

0 - 49

0.00 - 3.99

If you are planning to study a Degree with Honours, your grades will look different than the usual undergraduate and postgraduate grades. Honours Degree is usually an additional year of study after completing an undergraduate degree.

It usually requires a student to complete independent but supervised research in their field of study after completing the third year of Bachelor’s degree.

Grades

Grade Description

Grade Scale (%)

H1

First Class Honours

80 - 100

H2A

Second Class Honours (Division A)

75 - 79

H2B

Second Class Honours (Division B)

70 - 74

H3

Third Class Honours

65 - 69

P

Pass

50 - 64

N

Fail

0 - 49

You can also search for various universities, TAFEs and private colleges on our search engine.

GPA and ATAR

Unlike the USA, GPA’s (Grade Point Average) are rarely used in the Australian grading system. Most commonly they are used in Medicine or Law stream courses. For those who don’t know, GPA is a numerical calculation that helps to evaluate students academic performance in each study period or over the whole course.

While GPA is not a very popular method of grading in Australia, ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks) score is one of the key scale used in measuring the student’s performance in Australia. Students who exceed certain ATAR threshold are eligible for government-sponsored opportunities and positions.

Now let’s look at each and every state and territories grading system in Australia.

Australian Capital Territory

The educations institution in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) uses the following grading system

Grade

Grade Name

Grade Scale (%)

A

Extremely High Standard of Achievement

85 - 100

B

High Standard of Achievement

70 - 84

C

Acceptable Standard of Achievement

50 - 69

D

Limited Standard of Achievement

25 - 49

E

Ver Limited Performance

0 - 24

New South Wales

The table below shows the grading system used by the educational institutions in New South Wales

Grade

Grade Name

Grade Scale (%)

HD

High Distinction

85 - 100

D

Distinction

75 - 84

C

Credit

65 - 74

P

Pass

50 - 64

F

Fail

0 - 49

Northern Territory

Northern Territory institutions use the following grading system :

Grade

Scale 1

Scale 2

A

5

17 - 20

B

4 - 4.99

14- 16.99

C

3 - 3.99

11 - 13.99

D

2 - 2.99

8 - 10.99

E

1 - 1.99

0 - 7.99

Queensland

The table underneath explains the grading system adopted by the educational institution in Queensland:

Grade

Grade Name

Grade Scale (%)

HD

High Distinction

7

D

Distinction

6 - 6.99

C

Credit

5 - 5.99

P

Pass

4 - 4.99

F

Fail

1 - 3.99

South Australia

The institution in South Australia uses the following grading system:

Grade

Grade Name

Grade Scale (%)

HD

High Distinction

85 - 100

D

Distinction

75 - 84

C

Credit

65 - 74

P1

Pass Level 1

55 - 64

P2

Pass Level 2

50 - 54

F1

Fail Level 1 (lowest grade to pass)

40 - 49

F2

Fail Level 2

30 - 39

Tasmania

Tasmanian institutions had adopted the following grading scale since 2003:

Grade

Grade Name

Grade Scale

EA

Excellent Achievement

4.00

HA

High Achievement

3.50 - 3.99

CA

Commendable Achievement

3.00 - 3.49

SA

Satisfactory Acheivement

2.50 - 2.99

PA

Preliminary Achievement

2.00 - 2.49

Victoria

The educational institutions in Victora use the following grading system:

Grade

Grade Name

A

Highest Grade

B

C

D

E

Lowest grade to pass

F

Fail

Western Australia

The table below explains the grading system adopted in Western Australia:

Grade

Grade Name

Grade Scale (%)

HD

High Distinction

80 - 100

A

Excellent Achievement

80 - 100

B

High Achievement

70 - 79

C

Sound Achievement

60 - 69

D

Limited Achievement (lowest grade to pass)

50 - 59

E

Fail

0 - 49

Vocational Education and Training

The vocational education system in Australia does not have university-style grades but rather based on the concept that you can either complete the task or not. So those students who are planning to undertake qualifications like Certificates (I to IV), Diploma and Advanced Diploma may get different grades in their certificates than at the university levels.

If the institute decides to use the grading system, it might use the same scales as university undergraduate scales (given above). But since vocational education is based on competency levels rather than grades, most of the vocational education provider will use grades like these:

Grades

Grade Description

Grade Scale (%)

C / S

Competent (Pass) / Satisfactory

100%

NYC / NS

Not Yet Competent (Fail) / Not Satisfactory

0%

Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary

In Australia, every state and territory has their own grading scales, so it is extremely important to understand that grades may look different than the one given below in the table. As an overseas student, you can study in Australia after the age of 6.

Usually, the result reports of the students are given to the parents at least 2 times a year using the grading scale between A to F. Overseas students who are planning to study at Primary and Secondary level education in Australia, your grades may look something like:

Grades

Grade Description

Grade Scale (%)

A

Excellent

85 - 100

B

Good

70 - 84

C

Satisfactory

51 - 69

D

Limited

31 - 50

E

Very Low

26 - 30

F

Fail

0 - 25

If you would like to watch a quick summary of this guide in our video, you can watch it here:

RESOURCES

STUDENT LIFE

Most of the universities and institutions will have an orientation week, also known as Week 0 of the studies where they will explain more about the institution, your studies, providing you with a time table and a student card (which can be useful for many exclusive discounts and offers).
As a newcomer to the country, we highly recommend you to attend the orientation as it helps you to meet other students, administration staff members and understand your own institution better